Cuyahoga County Council considers $8.2 million for continued access to pre-kindergarten

Updated July 11, 2018 at 7:57 AM;Posted July 10, 2018 at 4:03 PM

Children at the Centers for Families and Children early learning center at Maple Heights Branch of the Cuyahoga County Library, funded in part by Universal Pre-Kindergarten. April 16, 2016 (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)(Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish introduced legislation Tuesday that would provide $8.2 million to provide pre-kindergarten at 33 schools in the county, up from 31 schools last year.

If approved by County Council, the legislation would extend pre-K classes at the 31 schools through July 2020 and add classes at Cirque du Kids LLC in Garfield Heights and PM Foundation, Inc. on Cleveland's West Side.

Council assigned the legislation to a committee for review.

Contracts at 30-some additional pre-schools are also set to expire in July 2020, at which point county officials hope to renew funding for all pre-schools involved in the program.

Those schools were part of an expansion of pre-kindergarten made possible by a $10 million investment by the county and a fundraising effort that collected about $12 million in corporate and private donations.

"In total, we'll have about 65 sites," county spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said in an interview with cleveland.com. "It will all roll forward together [in 2020] as expanded universal pre-kindergarten."

Throughout 2016, cleveland.com, 90.3 WCPN, WVIZ/PBS ideastream, and The Plain Dealer advocated for an expansion of quality pre-K in the county as part of The First 2,000 Days series, which was sponsored by PNC Bank.

Research shows the first two 2,000 days of a child's life are the most important for the development of the brain and that pre-k improve a child's chances of success throughout life.

Under the pre-K program, financial support goes to 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds from households with an income at no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

"Early child programming is a priority for the county, and we've committed to it by not only dedicating funds, but raising funds for it too," Madigan said.